India submits further evidence in effort to extradite Mallya

India is piling on the pressure in its bid to have Vijay Mallya extradited from Britain to face charges of fraud and money laundering in his home country.

The country’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) is preparing to submit additional evidence against the former chairman and chief executive United Spirits in an affidavit to add to the evidence it has presented to Westminster Magistrates Court.

Mallya was arrested in London in August last year with the extradition proceedings beginning on December 4.

Last week, chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot said she would consider final written submissions and closing verbal arguments on July 13 and that her verdict would follow soon thereafter.

The addition of an extra affidavit may further delay the process as the defence team may wish to question its contents, which are alleged to confirm some transactions around which the case centres.

These are believed to have come to light during the questioning of witnesses in India.

For the new affidavit to be admitted, the ED will have to make its submission to an Indian court for approval. If that court agrees, the documents will be provided to counsel prosecuting Mallya in the UK to present as further evidence to support India’s case.

Mallya has consistently denied all the charges against him, which the prosecutors allege involve £1.15 billion.

Meanwhile, reports in India’s Business Standard claim that when Mallya controlled the Royal Challengers Bangalore IPC cricket franchise some £850 million was diverted from the franchisee’s holding company Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd. (RCSPL).

The transaction are said to have come to light during an internal probe by the United Spirits (USL), RSPCL’s parent company. United Spirits is now majority owned and controlled by Diageo.

In its 2016-17 financial statement filed to India’s financial regulators RSPCL alleges that the sum had been “potentially diverted from Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited”.

Diageo took control of USL in 2014 and has been investigating alleged financial irregularities at USL before its acquisition. The discrepancies at the RCB holding company pertain to transactions conducted between October 2010 and July 2014, a period when Mallya’s companies owned the cricket franchise.

An initial inquiry, launched by Diageo in September 2014, examined transactions conducted between 2010 and 2013 and found that USL funds were diverted to Mallya’s defunct Kingfisher Airlines and some of the other companies related to his United Breweries Group.

An additional inquiry concluded in July 2016, found that large sums had been diverted from USL to overseas and Indian entities that appear to be affiliated or associated with Mallya. The same inquiry also found that cash had been diverted from RCSPL.